


we were friends first (and maybe something more)

by dear_universe



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Camping, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Enemies, Old Friends, Pokemon, but theres lesbians and nose piercings, haha its a pokemon sword and shield au, only a little bit tho and it's not graphic, to lovers ??????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22151401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dear_universe/pseuds/dear_universe
Summary: an injured catra stumbles upon her rival's camp in the wild lands, and adora sees no choice but to tend to her.or: they've both been burying feelings. maybe it's time to talk about it?
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 100





	we were friends first (and maybe something more)

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by me being gay and also by me playing shield for 7 hours yesterday, which are basically the same thing.

Adora had just finished setting up camp when she saw a figure in the distance, a dark silhouette against the fog. As they walked closer, Adora’s campfire cast across their features, highlighting wild hair, split eyes, and those signature cat ear headphones.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra said, stepping just to the edge of the camp. “Alright if I drop in?”

“Sure.”

Adora shrugged, watching as the other girl set down her pack and settled by the fire. Catra looked utterly beat: dark circles under her eyes and a cut slashed across her left cheek.

“What happened to you?” Adora asked, leaning forward and swiping her thumb across the cut. It came away red.

“Got caught in a battle with a Snorlax I couldn’t handle,” Catra said as she pulled a pot and a packet of sausages from her bag. As she leaned forward, her headphones slid to rest around her neck, letting her curls spring free. “Ran away right into some thorns. My clothes blocked most of it, but I didn’t think to cover my face.”

“If you want,” Adora said slowly, “I could fix it up for you.”

Catra dropped her packet of sausages, startled. 

“But… we’re rivals. We’re not supposed to help each other.”

“We were friends first.” Maybe they had even been more, once.

The two girls stared at one another. It had grown darker as they spoke, and stars were sprinkled across the midnight sky. Catra tilted her head back to look at them, avoiding Adora’s gaze. 

“If you want, I guess,” she mumbled at last. 

“Come over here then, dummy,” came Adora’s voice a moment later. Catra looked over to find the blonde girl clutching a first aid kit.

“Don’t call me a dummy,” Catra snapped, and yet she moved closer as she was told.

“Hold still,” Adora ordered, leaning in with a cotton ball doused in alcohol. “This might hurt a little.”

And suddenly, Catra was five years old again, getting her skinned knee cleaned in Adora’s kitchen. Instead of crying as she had then, Catra held still, ignoring the way her stomach twisted at the feeling of Adora’s fingers against her skin. The burn of the disinfectant was nothing in comparison. 

“When did you get that?” Adora asked, brushing the pad of her finger over the small stud in Catra’s nose, which glinted in the firelight. 

Catra wrinkled her nose, and Adora felt like she might die.

“Last week,” Catra replied, reaching up to probe the piercing, still unfamiliar to her. “After…” She trailed off, leaving Adora to fill in the blanks.

After their battle. 

The battle Adora had won. 

They both listened to the crackle of the fire, neither willing to break the silence that had settled over them along with the fog.

Finally, Adora unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and poured a small amount into her hand, which she then used to finish cleaning the cut. Catra stiffened at the cold but still didn’t speak.

“I left the bandages in my tent, one minute,” Adora said, withdrawing to rummage through her beat up pack for a tin of bandaids. When she returned, Catra had climbed to her feet and pulled her dark curls back into a braid, and the very sight made Adora stop in her tracks.

“What?” Catra asked, her hands falling away from her hair. “You look as if you've just seen a ghost.” Her eyes met Adora's, and Adora looked away instantly, her cheeks flushing bright pink.

“Nothing,” Adora mumbled, moving to stand beside Catra and busying herself with trying to open the band-aid box. 

“Tell me what it is.” Catra stepped forward, and Adora nearly dropped the box.

“There's nothing to tell.” Adora felt clumsy, paralyzed, caught in a moment that wasn’t meant to be seen. 

“Tell me,” Catra repeated, and Adora was ten years old again, trying to hide her first training bra from her best friend. “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me-”

“Just shut up!” Adora yelled, finally managing to rip a bandaid free from the damn box. 

Catra glared at her, and Adora’s anger dissolved. “Just let me put the bandage on and I’ll tell you, alright?”

Catra pretended to think on it for a moment. “You promise?” 

“I promise.” 

“Alright then,” Catra agreed, stepping near to allow Adora to apply the bandage. 

Adora leaned forward, peeling the plastic backing off and smoothing the bandage across Catra’s cut. She was so close she could see every freckle on Catra’s face, could feel the other girl’s breath against her skin. 

Her gaze flicked up to Catra’s eyes, then down to her lips. 

“Aren’t you going to tell me now, Adora?” Catra’s voice was low. “You promised.” 

Adora came to the sudden realization that her hand was still cupping Catra’s cheek. She could feel her own face reddening, and she knew it wasn’t because of the fire. 

Her thumb traced a path from the side of Catra’s face down to the corner of her lips. “I think you already know,” Adora whispered, so quiet Catra almost missed it. “I think you always have, and you’ve just been waiting for me to say it.” 

Catra raised a single eyebrow, a skill Adora had never been able to master, no matter how long she practiced in the bathroom mirror. “Well?”

Adora’s heart was racing, and she moved closer almost instinctively. Her eyes were fixed upon Catra’s nose piercing, watching it sparkle as Catra shifted ever so slightly. Their faces were so close, their foreheads almost touching. Their lips almost touching. Adora felt practically high from the proximity, the rush of being around her. In the pit of her stomach, Adora felt a spark of courage. “No, Catra, I-”

And suddenly Catra was pulling back, reaching for her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “Sorry, I have to go.” Her face was red, her hands shaking as she zipped her jacket up. 

“Catra, wait.” Adora watched helplessly as the other girl turned to leave. “I didn’t mean- you don’t have to go.”

Catra laughed bitterly, still facing away from Adora, steps away from disappearing into the fog. “I really do, though.” 

“It’s late,” Adora protested. “You shouldn’t be out, alone, in the dark.” Hot tears of shame welled in her eyes. “I want you to stay.”

Catra snorted at that. “I’m always alone.” She reached up and lifted her cat ear headphones back into place. “Like you said, Adora, we may have been friends first, but we’re rivals now. And as your rival, I really, really can’t stay.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” 

“But that’s just how it is.” Catra looked over her shoulder at Adora, their eyes meeting one last time. Catra’s fists were clenched tight with the need to get far, far away, but she stuck around for one last line. Just to make it hit a little more. “See you around, challenger. Next time, I’m not going to let you win.”

And then she was gone, leaving Adora with a pot, a pack of sausages, a dying fire, and the dream of a kiss against her lips.

**Author's Note:**

> i know that you do water and then disinfectant for a cut but i forgot while writing and was too lazy to change it. anyways hope you liked it! if you enjoyed, drop a comment and come say hi to me on tumblr @amitylesbian ! please do not sue for emotional damages


End file.
